2018 Adult Poetry Contest Judge Information

Marlys Cervantes received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Master of Arts in Literature at Oklahoma State University. She began teaching at Cowley College, Arkansas City, Ks in 2000, where she instructs the creative writing program and serves as chair of the Humanities department, and instructor of Creative Writing, Poetry, Journal Writing/Storytelling, Introduction to Literature and Native American Literature. She is a writer/consultant for the OSUWP/National Writing Project.

“I teach. And I learn. I spend most days with creative writers at Cowley College, exploring life and its representation through words. We study the importance of communication and compassion. I love how words come together with strength and beauty. I spend most evenings, weekends, and breaks with my beautiful family. We, too, explore life and faith and how we can benefit the world around us.”

Category 2: Classic Forms Judge: HB Berlow

H.B. Berlow studied film-making and creative writing at the University of Miami in the 80's, was involved in the Boston Poetry Scene in the 90's, and was the former president of the Kansas Writer's Association from 2012 to 2013. The historical crime fiction series, Ark City Confidential and Secrets of the Righteous, published through The Wild Rose Press, are currently available on Amazon.

Category 3: Free Verse Judge: Nancy Hamilton Sturm

Ms. Sturm worked for 21 years as a high school English teacher and ten years as an instructor and co-director with the National Writing Project. She now works part-time for Wichita State University (Go Shockers!) as a University Supervisor in the English Education Department. She has judged contests for the Kansas Authors’ Club, KansasVoices, Poetry Out Loud, and currently serves on the review board for Kansas English. She has been published in Alive Now!,The Secret Place (10 times), and in two Chicken Soup for the Soul books: Teacher Tales and Living with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias.

Category 4: Narrative Verse Judge: Alice Bendinelli

Dr. Alice Bendinelli is an Associate Professor of English at Southwestern College, KS, where she has been teaching English literature and writing since 2007, after relocating to the USA from Italy. With a research emphasis on ecocriticism, trauma literature, and narratology, she has published numerous essays and chapters in books on literature ranging from Cervantes’s Don Quixote to Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Martell’s Life of Pi.

Alice regularly presents papers at national and international conferences. She also organized and hosted an international conference on literature and the environment (The World We Have Imagined: Literature, Nature and the Environment in April 2012), and another conference on animal suffering (Animal Suffering: Interdisciplinary Investigations in Animal Studies in October 2015) at Southwestern College.Alice lives in Winfield with her adventure-loving eight-year-old son, Dashiell, her crime fiction-aficionado husband, John, and their rescue dogs, Jade and Bruno.

Category 6: Japanese Form Judge: Roxy Callison

Stage artist and vocalist, Roxy Callison is at home with word crafting of many varieties. She spends many hours teaching voice lessons and supporting the arts in all its forms, and in her spare time she quilts and writes memoirs and poems for her family.

Roxy shares, “Rhythm in language can be as singularly satisfying as when it is provided with melody. My background in music has given me a sense of movement in literature as well as song. Just as a set of well-crafted words is easy to memorize, a collection of poorly worked ones is not. My background in theatre has given me an appreciation of the articulate printed word. Two high school English teachers were instrumental in guiding me toward intelligible, interesting writing. They held the standards by which I still measure everything I create with words.”Category 7: Song Lyrics Judge: Kelley Alexander

Kelley Alexander earned a Bachelor of Music Performance degree on French Horn from Southwestern College in Winfield. She currently holds the principal Horn position in both the South Kansas Symphony and the Winfield Municipal Band.

While serving six and a half years on the Winfield Arts and Humanities Council board of directors, Kelley created and developed Kansas Soundscapes, which is an annual state-wide music composition competition sponsored by the Council. In addition to Kansas Soundscapes, she is also responsible for booking the entertainment for the annual Art in the Park festival held each year in October, also sponsored by the Winfield Arts and Humanities Council. In doing so, she is always looking to promote and assist talent and creativity.

Creativity is her life style. Along with music activities, she re-purposes a variety of materials, including old pianos and other musical instruments into artistic creations.Category 8: . Spoken Word Contest Judge: Matt Spezia

Matt Spezia is a national powerhouse of lyrical ability, combining a 3 time national award winning poetry style, Kansas City hip hop, and thespian teachings. This artist has 2 albums and a book published and recently completed a summer tour that consisted of 32 shows in 2 months. Spezia uses his platform and his art to promote self confidence and betterment, social awareness, cultural change. He also hosts 2 weekly national award winning radio shows. All of this while being a proud Washburn University Ichabod dual business major in marketing and entrepreneurship.

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